The Final Dream
by meat-and-sarcasm
Summary: Aya (OC) is an Earthbender who recently lost her home and joined the Gaang. Join her as she goes on adventures, decides her own fate, and (oops) falls in love. This is not my first Fan Fic, but I sure hope you do enjoy it! Zutara. Sokka/OC. Just a warning, this is slightly AU, and there is no Toph. Don't kill me! I just hope Aya is equally awesome :)
1. Chapter 1

Fire, fire everywhere. It was engulfing innocent people, and the small village would be nothing soon.

And I didn't know how to stop it.

I was in the woods, and it seemed as though I was the only one out there. My eyes kept getting blurry from the tears that kept flowing, and I couldn't stop it. I couldn't stop anything. There wasn't anything an Earthbender could do when fire was the enemy.

So I watched. I heard the screams of innocent people dying, of buildings falling. I watched until I couldn't watch anymore.

And then, I woke up.

* * *

That dream has been haunting me for about two years now, and I am pretty much done with it. It's always the same – the man screaming at the near end, the scene blurring before me before I wake up – and it's always terrifying. The vivid details of the nightmare were haunting my every sleeping moment. But it wasn't like I could do anything about it, so I didn't.

Sighing, I sat up and rubbed my eyes hard, trying to get the flashing pictures of the flames and smoke out of my mind. I couldn't deal with it anymore. It was too hard, too hurtful.

I had tried so many things to get rid of the images, but it was exhausting, really. I even tried to traumatize myself with something else that was real, but it didn't help either.

But as I looked out my window, I realized that my little Earth Kingdom village was bustling with activity. My mother would probably come up to my room to tell me to help with whatever was going on.

But that's when I smelled the smoke.

My fear set in, and I started gathering as much as I possibly could. Was my dream coming true? I didn't want to find out.

I slung my sack over my shoulder, putting my hat over on top of my bun, and started running. I ran out there as fast I could, knowing my mother and little brother would probably still be in there. I didn't know where they were, so I couldn't go and find them and bring them to safety. Just like my dream.

I rubbed at my eyes to keep from crying. It was my chance to change my fate, so I had to do something, now that I knew it was happening and that it was real.

I blocked off an area, sending wayward children into the safe zone, and then started creating more and more. Now they were for anyone, and I knew I would not be climbing into one of those. Who knew if they would even work?

Before I could get very far, a wall of fire came at me, and I managed to skirt around it, but not without experiencing a semi-severe burn on my forearm. As I ran from my village, I bit on my shirt collar, any slight movement making my burn sting like crazy. I couldn't do anything now.

I reached a high enough peak, found a pond and dipped my arm in it. The coolness soothed it, and I was focusing on my burn now. I did what I could. I had to convince myself of that. The distraction of my burnt arm helped me.

But I still didn't know what the cause of the fire was, really. Was it the Fire Nation? Was it some haywire fire place? It was probably the Fire Nation, maybe the Rough Rhinos. But I didn't know, and probably wouldn't.

For about an hour, I soaked my arm before wrapping it up. It was blistering already, and I almost vomited from the shock of fabric touching it. I cried then, because of my loss, because of my burn.

I tried to sleep, and for once, I couldn't. Because my nightmare was finally real.


	2. Chapter 2

The morning came faster than I realized it would, and I could still smell the smoke from the fires last night. Among it was silence. No more screams, no more crackling flames, no more crashing buildings. Just silence. I couldn't believe that this had happened. After having that nightmare for more than two years, I still couldn't believe how unlucky I was. What exactly did it all mean, though? Did it mean I was some sort of prophet? No, I couldn't be. That was ridiculous. I almost laughed because it was so ridiculous.

Sighing, I unwrapped my bandage. I could feel the blisters, and the burn was completely blistered. It wasn't so bad, and it could have been much, much worse, but I still didn't want to be hurt. It would definitely not help the state I was in at all. I walked over to the small pond, making sure my long hair was tied back so it wouldn't get wet. The water extracted more of the heat from my burn, but it didn't matter, really. Minor third degree burns always left a scar.

This is why I'm glad I'm and Earth bender. Rocks don't usually hurt people, not unless you wanted them to, necessarily speaking. Fire, no matter what, would always seem like destruction for me, no matter if it were for heat or burning a village down.

All of the sudden, a shadow passed over the pond, which made me look up toward the sky. What was that flying furry fluff thing? I shook my head, focusing on my wound.

Wait a minute.

Was there something tied around that cloud?

I must be hallucinating. But then again, what if I wasn't? Would it be bad if someone were up there? It couldn't be bad, though. The Fire Nation navy wouldn't use a flying contraption, especially not a fluffy one.

Picking up a rock with my good arm, I tossed into the air a few times, determining the weight, and then shot it up at the cloud. Nothing really happened at first, but then I did it again, and once more.

I had done it around four times before something came flying down. I looked at it, confused, and realized it was a human boy with wings.

"God, will this nightmare ever end?" I asked myself, flopping backward down on the grass, the earth catching me before I could fall flat onto the ground.

"Whoa... Did you just earthbend?" asked someone.

I shot straight up, looking around, and found a boy, not much older than around 12, staring down at me.

"Yes? And why would this be exciting or important to you?" I asked him, standing.

"Well, I need an earthbending teacher to help me learn earthbending," he explained. "I've been pretty desperate, and Sokka and Katara have been trying to help me, but Sokka likes buying bags and stuff like that, and then Katara always acts so serious, so I haven't been able to find one. And then you shot rocks into the sky, hitting Sokka on the head a few times, and he got mad, so I flew down here to see what was going on, and now here we are!"

I looked at him, extremely confused and not making any sense of his words.

"What now?" I asked him, crossing my arms and then scratching my head. "If you're an Earthbender, why are you wearing...?"

I trailed off. He was wearing airbending clothes.

"You're the Avatar, aren't you?"

He nodded.

"Pleasure." I remarked, going back to the pond and then sitting down, trying to keep my burn from hurting too much.

"You know, Katara could help with that. She has special healing powers with her waterbending."

How did people travel with this guy? He was so annoying.

"I don't need help. I'm fine."

Well, that couldn't be further from the truth.

All of the sudden, a big gust of wind settled over the Avatar and I.

"Okay, I might as well ask this. What's your name?"

The boy smiled and said, "I'm Aang."

"Cool. I'm Aya."

Aang continued to smile, and then a boy jumped from the cloud, grabbing me by my shoulder, and shoving me to the side. I fell, and met the sunlight, and the boy's face, and a bendy metal thingy that I had no idea what it was.

"Stay down!" commanded the boy.

Aang shouted at him. "Stop, Sokka! She's alright."

"Yeah, Sokka, I'm alright," I said, tilting my head. "Now get off of me or I'll take care of it myself."

"How are you going to do that, Fire Girl?"

I smirked at him.

"First of all, never call me Fire Girl ever again. Second of all..." I trailed off, sitting there for a few seconds before leaping into action.

I didn't use any movements to pick up the slab of earth this Sokka kid was on, moving him back beside the cloud, and then setting him down. I got up and brushed myself off, staring at him.

"Like that."

He stared at me, dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open.

"How did you...?"

"Earthbend? Oh, it's easy. You have to have a special ability to, though."

"No, I meant without movements."

"Just as easy. You have to focus on moving the earth. You can use it with brains or brawn."

He looked at me, staring me down, almost like he wanted to pummel me to the ground. I was really pissing him off.

"Don't mind him, he's just grumpy because he was hit in the head with a few rocks," said a girl, who I assumed was Katara.

"Yeah, that was me who hit him in the head with the rocks," I replied, smiling. "He has every right" – I looked at him – "to be upset."

He seemed furious, about to boil, but I just looked at him smugly, and then turned back to Aang and Katara.

"So is anyone else with you?" I asked, curious.

"No," replied Katara. "But there's the Firelord's son following us. He's downright loony, but we get along fine."

"Ahh, well, that's nice I guess."

"Where are you from, Aya?" asked Aang.

That's when I became a bit cautious, and by a bit, I mean paranoid.

"Who gives you the right to know where I'm from?" I sneered at them.

"Whoa, we're just trying to help you, Aya," said Katara, backing off a little bit.

"Yeah, it's not like we're going to abduct you," said Aang.

"Well, I propose that we kidnap her and dump her off in the Fire Nation. She's a nuisance!" shouted Sokka.

I rolled my eyes while Aang and Katara scolded him.

"Well, if we're all done here, I'd like to tend to my burn now, please," I told them, turning around and walking back up to my temporary camp. I could feel their gazes on me, but I didn't care.

"Aya! Wait up!" shouted Aang.

"Oh for crying out loud, Aang. We almost got away!" cried Sokka.

I turned around to see Katara swat her brother, and then come running up the hill behind Aang.

"I'm just saying!"

"Come on Sokka, she's not bad or anything."

"I don't like her, that's all."

"Learn to!"

Now what was that supposed to mean? Were they expecting me to travel with them or something?

Blinking, I stood next to the pond and watched them as they climbed up the hill. Crouching down, I splashed a little bit of water onto my injury, and sighed at the cool water running down my arm.

"Do you want me to help?" asked Katara, watching me cool off my wound.

They seemed alright, so, nodding, I held out my arm, and she bended some water onto my arm. She seemed awfully focused on the healing or whatever it was, and I watched her carefully.

"It seems like you've had this wound overnight. Have you?" she asked me.

I nodded.

"Ah, well, what I can do is I can give you relief, but as far as healing goes, there will be a scar."

I grinned at her.

"Battle scars. I've always wanted those."

She smiled back at me, and Aang laughed, but Sokka just shook his head.

"Oh come on, Sokka, lighten up," I told him, smirking. Maybe I enjoyed annoying him a little too much.

"I am light. Light as a feather. You're just not funny."

"I think Katara and Aang would have to disagree with you there, but that's okay. I can deal with someone pushing a grudge into my face every once in a while," I told him. "It's...refreshing."

"Well, maybe-"

"Sokka, just shush. She will not let you win," warned Katara.

She was right on that part.

"But she-"

"Sokka."

"But-"

"Shush."

Sighing, Sokka sat down on a rock, and swung his metal thing around in his hand.

"What is that anyway?" I asked him.

"A lemur-bat."

"No, really, what is it?"

"It's a boomerang," replied Aang. "You throw it, and it comes back to you if you throw it right."

"That's actually pretty cool," I said, studying it carefully.

"You don't have to compliment me, Aya. I already don't like you."

"I wasn't complimenting you; I was complimenting your boomer-thingy."

"Boomerang."

"Whatever."

I sat there for a few more moments, letting Katara seep the heat from my wound. After a while, the water was starting to feel strange, and I pulled away. Sure enough, there were scars, and plenty of them, but the hurting did stop for the most part. I raised my eyebrows, impressed.

"Thanks, Katara," I told her.

"Don't mention it," she replied.

I looked up at Aang, who was sitting on a rock, his stick thing in his hand, and watching me.

"What?" I asked incredulously.

"I was just wondering..." he started, but then trailed off.

"Wondering what?"

"Just... I need an earthbending teacher. You can earthbend."

"Okay...?"

"Will you be my earthbending teacher?"

I blinked at him, looking at Katara, who shrugged, and then Sokka, whose mouth was hanging open.

"Aang, you can't- No you- Ugh!" was his exact response.

"Sokka, I can. I can choose my trainers."

I held my hand up.

"Wait, wait, wait. Does this mean I have to travel with you?"

Aang nodded.

"Oh. Well, okay."

"So you'll be my earthbending teacher-slash-master?"

"Uh... Let me think about it first. You guys are welcome to stay the night if you'd like."

"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks, Aya," said Aang.

"Well, don't mention it. It's not my forest."

Aang giggled and Katara smiled.

"Seriously! How do you guys think she's funny?!" complained Sokka.

"Sokka," said Katara and Aang simultaneously.

"Alright, alright, I'll shut up."

I smiled slightly, bringing my arms up and forming a tent around me. I was definitely in need of some rest.

"Goodnight, Aya," said Katara.

"Yeah, goodnight!" echoed Aang.

Sokka grumbled.

With that, I curled up, and fell soundly asleep, no dreams haunting my thoughts for the first time in two years.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up to rain. It was a pleasant sound, and I only wished it had come sooner, maybe while the fire had been going. It would've saved a lot of lives. Sighing, I took down my tent, looked around, and felt the rain on my face.

The rain felt nice on my skin, and it took the last of the stinging feeling from my burn. It was a huge scar now, and I knew it wouldn't go away anytime soon. I ran my finger along the length of it, shivering even though I could barely feel my finger brushing my arm.

"Aya, you're up!" said someone, probably Aang.

I spun around and sure enough, there he was, flying stick in hand.

"Okay, I have to ask this, but what is that?" I questioned, pointing to his stick.

"Oh, this is my glider," he said, grinning as he held it up proudly. "It lets me basically fly through the air by me controlling the air currents with my airbending."

"Oh, that's actually pretty neat," I said, nodding.

"It's extremely useful," he said, still smiling.

"Good morning, you two," said Katara, who was gathering a few scrolls or something and bringing it down to where Aang was. "How did you guys sleep?"

"For once, like a rock," I replied.

"That's great," she said, smiling slightly in my direction.

"Yeah, it hasn't happened in a while," I told her, shrugging. "But it's really not a big deal."

We stood there in silence for a little while, and my finger gripped a strand of my hair and I started to twirl it slightly. I always had to be doing something with my hands. Sometimes I'd toss a stone around or, like I was doing right now, play with a strand of my hair.

"So, have you decided?" asked Aang.

I looked at him.

"Decided what?"

"If you're going to be my earthbending trainer."

"Uh... Oh, yeah. That. Um, I think so. I don't have anything else to do, really."

"NOOOO!" yelled someone behind me.

I turned around slowly to see Sokka crawling towards us.

"She can't travel with us!"

"Seeing as you're the only one who likes her, your vote is invalidated," replied Katara.

I smirked down at him, while he glared up at me. After a while, he stood up and brushed his legs off.

"Fine. Just don't expect me to share any of my meat with her."

Katara rolled her eyes and Aang laughed into his hand. Sokka gestured at Aang laughing and looked at me.

"See? I'm funny, you're not."

"All that's funny about you is that you're probably older than me and you were crawling on the ground."

He glared at me again, but I smiled innocently as Aang and Katara started laughing. Sokka shook his head.

"I just don't see what's so funny in that!" he exclaimed.

"You don't have to, but it's your loss," I retorted.

Suddenly, I felt vibrations going through the ground. My smirk immediately turned into a frown, and I crouched down to feel the vibrations with my hand.

"Something's coming, and fast," I told them, getting up from my crouch and starting to run to the fluffy cloud.

I could feel and hear all three of them running behind me, and I climbed up nimbly into the saddle, waiting for them to climb in after me.

"Okay, also, what is this beast?"

Aang laughed.

"This is Appa, my flying bison," he told me.

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of these," I replied.

"And she hasn't heard of boomerangs?!" Sokka cried.

Katara and Aang shushed him.

"Sokka, it's really not a big deal," said Katara. "Now be quiet and stop hurting her feelings."

"Yeah, Sokka, stop hurting my feelings," I said softly, pouting at him.

He scoffed and looked away, while my pouting turned into a grin. In a moment, my humor turned into all seriousness.

"Okay, Aang, how do we get Appa to fly?"

Aang looked back and smiled mysteriously.

"Yip yip!" he cried, and immediately the bison lifted off the ground.

I held on tightly to the saddle of the bison and saw Sokka smirking at me.

"What?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he said, still smirking. "Your reaction was actually kinda funny."

"Oh shut up," I scoffed.

"Just saying," he said, putting his hands up in a surrender position.

Looking away, I peered down at the ground, seeing a movement in the trees. Confused, I saw whatever was making that ruckus pop out from the trees, look up at us, and start to shoot fire at us.

"Oh, great, not him again!" cried Katara.

"Him?" I asked her, turning to look at the three.

"Yeah, the mighty Prince Zuko has been hot on our trail for a while now," said Aang.

"Heh. You said 'hot on our trail,'" said Sokka, laughing a little.

I smiled along with him while Aang laughed, realizing his play on words.

"Guys, this is Zuko we're talking about," warned Katara. "As long as he sees us, he won't stop until he gets to Aang."

Sighing, I looked over the ledge of the saddle and rested my chin on my arms. I watched Zuko look up at us. We weren't too high up in the air, though, so I could see his face clearly. He didn't look angry or anything, he looked watchful, persistent, as though he wanted to talk to us.

"Are you sure he's hunting us down?" I asked them all, and they all started laughing.

"Oh yeah, he'd want to make peace with us," said Sokka.

Aang and Katara were laughing too hard to add anything.

"Gosh, guys, I was just asking," I said, looking back down at the prince. "He just seems... like he does not want to hurt us, I guess?"

They looked at me incredulously.

"Do you have that good of eyesight, Aya?" asked Katara.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know... It's just strange."

I shrugged.

"I've always had good eyesight," I replied, blinking my sky blue eyes and shrugging.

I looked back at Zuko, studying him slightly.

"We've got to get out of here, Aya," said Aang. "You're making Appa uneasy."

Appa roared.

"Alright," she said. "I won't talk to him at the moment. But eventually I will, okay?"

"I guess so... Can you defend yourself again fire?"

"Of course I can."

"Then why not talk to him now?"

"Because according to you, we have to get out of here. So let's get out of here."

"Okay..."

I leaned back against the side of Appa's saddle and crossed my arms, still watching Zuko out of the corner of my eye.

There was something about him that Aang, Katara, and Sokka did not notice. He didn't want to fight them.

He wanted to make peace.


	4. Chapter 4

"You know," said Aang. "Maybe Aya was right."

"No, it's okay. We have plenty of other times to talk with this Prince," I told him, shaking my head. "You wanted to get out of there, so we did."

"Oh, how considerate of you," said Sokka, sarcasm lacing his voice.

"And Sokka, I get that you don't like me, or whatever," I said, turning to him. "But please stop commenting on everything I say. That's all I'm asking of you."

He stared at me, bewildered, but regained his composure.

"What? Nothing funny to say?"

"Well, this is a very serious matter," I replied, a bit harshly.

"If you have nothing funny to say, then... shut up," he said, smiling at me.

"Sokka," warned Katara. "This is getting way out of hand."

"Yeah, thanks, Mom," Sokka told her, looking like he regretted it almost immediately.

Katara looked at him, blinked a few times, and then her face scrunched up in anger.

"Take that back!" she said, and then suddenly water exploded in front of Sokka.

"I take it back, but not what I said to Aya!" he squealed, soaking wet.

"ENOUGH!" cried Aang. "If you guys can't get along, then maybe it's best if I don't learn earthbending at all. Aya is the first Earthbender we've encountered where she seems to understand what it's actually about, and I need someone like that. So please, Sokka, I know you couldn't sleep well last night, but you don't need to make comments to either Katara or Aya. And Katara, I know what happened to your mom, and I am so, so sorry, but you don't need to not protest at a trivial conversation like that."

"Isn't Aya doing anything wrong, though?" Sokka asked lightly, looking at me. He looked genuinely curious.

"All she asked was if you could be a little more considerate, Sokka, and I have to agree with that," replied Aang.

Sokka nodded.

"Fair enough, I guess," he said, smiling at him. "But she still doesn't get any of my meat."

Aang rolled his eyes and turned back to steering the bison.

"Do I really cause this much anguish for you, Sokka?" I asked him quietly.

He looked at me.

"I guess I felt intimidated, that's all," he said, shrugging. "But please don't talk to me right now, I'm kinda tired."

I nodded and leaned back, staring at the clouds going past. It was pleasant now, after the little outburst before, and I sighed. I took out a little rock from my pocket and swirled around my finger, watching as it went around and around. Okay, now I was thoroughly bored.

"Have we lost him yet?" I asked them. "I'm dying to earthbend or something. Maybe teach Aang a few tricks?"

Aang looked back and grinned, nodding.

"Please, Katara?" he asked her, pouting a little.

She huffed, looking below us.

"We might have some time."

"WHOOPIE!" cried Aang, his grin returning to his face and leaning forward to have Appa land.

I laughed a little, looking at Katara and Sokka.

Sokka was looking away, his boomerang in hand, staring at the ground. He looked... agitated about something, but I shouldn't prod him about it.

"Hey, Sokka, you okay with landing?" Katara asked him.

Sokka looked at her, blinked, and then nodded vigorously.

"Oh, yeah, yeah," he told her. "That'll be fine. I was just thinking of a survival plan if we need one, that's all."

Katara nodded, smiling at her brother. Man, I felt so left out right now. I didn't get inside jokes – if they had any, of course – or the secret looks they gave to each other that either meant danger or something amusing. It felt okay, I guess, but I still wanted to know what was going on. All in due time, I guess.

As Aang lowered the sky bison, I looked around where we were. It was a bit cold with plenty of earth to bend, but not much cover.

"Should we land here or somewhere in those woods over there? I mean, it's kinda hard to hide a flying bison, but we would have a better chance to hide over there."

Katara and Aang nodded, and Sokka just looked at me.

"You really enjoy stealing my thunder don't you?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't trying to..."

"Okay. Whatever."

I blinked a few times and then leaned back against the saddle, taking a piece of my hair and twisting it around my finger a few times.

"Is right here good?" asked Aang.

We were flying over a tree canopy.

"Right here is perfect," I said, nodding.

We lowered down into the trees, and birds were chirping happily, feeding their families with the seeds they gathered that afternoon. I hopped down from the sky bison before we landed completely, and the earth practically caught me.

"Alright, Aang," I said, looking up at him, watching him as he glided down to the ground. "You're going to need to put the glider away. Not too far, but just put it away from you for right now."

He nodded, setting it down on a rock.

"Okay, good," I said, a bit nervously, as I had never trained anyone before. "Now, you want to take a stance."

He took one, and I studied him, strengthening his arms and legs to make sure he would at least be able to catch a rock. If he didn't right away, I wouldn't get irritated at him though.

"You're all set. Now, I'm going to send a small boulder your way," I said, nodding once, and he nodded back at me.

"I'm ready."

Nodding once more, I took my stance, and ripped a small piece of earth away from the crust of the planet. As I exhaled, I sent it half-speed at Aang, and it didn't stop. I watched carefully, knowing Aang didn't realize the importance of keeping a strong center of gravity. But he didn't fall over, so that was a good sign.

"Okay," I said, stroking my chin a little bit. "I saw that you weren't facing the rock head-on. You need to have a strong center of gravity, be nimble, but you also want to have the attitude like 'Bring it on, rock. I got this.' Okay?"

He nodded, smiling.

"Let's do this."

He seemed very determined and I nodded back at him, smiling as well.

As soon as I set my center of gravity, I sent a rock towards him, and he didn't slide back as much. I turned that rock to dust, whistled, and sent another rock his way.

"You doing okay?" I yelled, and heard a faint positive response.

One more rock. That should be it.

I sent one more his way, and it stopped completely when Aang willed himself to think about the center of gravity. As a finishing touch, the rock ripped in half, and behind it was a beaming Aang.

"I did it! I'm earthbending!" he said excitedly, leaping up into the air.

"You have a long way to go, though, kid," I told him, smiling.

My smiled vanished a moment later, and I felt vibrations coming through the ground again.

"We've got-" I started.

I couldn't even finish my sentence before Prince Zuko and a companion crashed through the trees.

"-company."

Zuko's eyes landed on Aang.

"We need to talk."


	5. Chapter 5

"Does anyone else find it creepy how he follows us or is it just me?" I asked Katara, Sokka, and Aang.

They all just stared Zuko down, although I saw a small smile break out on Sokka's face. Maybe I was finally getting through to him.

"What are you doing here, Zuko?" Aang asked him, staff at the ready.

Zuko held his hands up in a surrendering position.

"I just want to talk."

"Like we believe that," Sokka told him in a low voice.

Zuko looked at us harshly, his eyes landing on me. He looked curious.

"I don't believe we've encountered each other," he told me.

"Aya," I replied. "New."

"Ah, so maybe they'd be willing to let me join their little hero party, then?"

"No!" said Aang, Sokka, and Katara simultaneously.

"You will never be in our little group," said Katara, walking up to him. "I will see to that myself."

They were nose to nose, literally. Zuko just smirked a little.

"Maybe that's exactly what I want you to do," he said.

"Maybe I... I..."

Apparently Katara didn't know what to say.

"Hmm... Speechless. That's new, Katara," he said.

He reached out for something, but he didn't get very far.

"Don't touch her!" yelled Sokka.

"Relax a little," said Zuko. "I'm not going to hurt her."

His hand grazed over her pendant, and she gasped a little.

"Nice necklace," he said softly.

I slowly crouched down to the ground to feel the vibrations more clearly, and I could tell his heart was beating quickly and his breathing was a bit shallow. Did he just swallow nervously?

"Hey, Zuko," I said. "I think we should be heading to Ba Sing Se."

"Don't tell him where we're going, Aya!" protested Sokka.

I glared at him for a moment before Zuko moved over to stand in front of me and study my face.

"Strange to see an Earthbender with blue eyes like yours," he mused.

"Yeah, okay," I said. "Listen. You want to talk to the Avatar? Quit wasting time and get on with it then. I hope you have things to say while we're standing around him, listening in on your little conversation, though. Because we're not going anywhere."

He smirked at me, but I stared him down.

"Alright, alright," he said. "I'm going."

He walked over to Aang.

"Be gentle, Nephew," said his companion.

"I know, Uncle Iroh, I know," said Zuko irritably.

"The Avatar is precious cargo," Iroh said, pointing a finger up to the sky.

"Uncle, I've got it," he said, getting irritated.

"Alright, I have no doubt that you do, Nephew," Iroh said, smiling at Sokka, Katara, and me. "Do you have tea?"

I looked at him confused, shaking my head.

He shrugged.

"I'll go find a few flowers to make my own, then," he said, starting to walk into the woods.

After the rustling of the leaves stopped, we turned towards Zuko and Aang.

"Okay, listen, I know that you're going to need a firebending master. You don't have to pick me or anything, but I have some news that might help you defeat my father."

Sokka, Katara and I looked at each other. Was this really possible, or was Zuko playing us? We turned our attention back to the conversation.

"I haven't been real easy on you guys, and I know that, but a brief encounter with my little sister and my father made me realize that they're the enemies, not you."

Aang looked shocked.

"So I need to tell you something."

Zuko looked around, nodded at us once, and then leaned over to whisper into Aang's ear. Aang's face turned white and he looked at Zuko.

"That can't be true."

In answer, Zuko stood up and started to walk away.

"I'll give you more information as I find out about it," he said, then mounting his reptilian ride, giving a last look to each of us, especially Katara it seemed, and vanished after his uncle.

We turned back to Aang, whose face was still drained of blood.

"Aang, are you okay?" Katara said, running towards him.

Sokka and I looked at each other and we ran towards Aang too.

"T-the Firelord," he said, turning to look up at Katara. "H-he's planning to take you guys away from me, so h-he'd have a ransom for my capture."

Katara gasped, Sokka snarled, and I looked at all three of them.

"Well, we can't just sit here," I told them. "We have to move. If he's really planning to trap us so you'd give yourself up to him for our uncertain freedom, we have to keep moving so he can't."

Aang's face was slowly turning back to its normal color.

"A-alright," he stammered, picking up his staff and then opening it to glide up to Appa.

I watched him.

"How old is he?" I asked Sokka as Katara moved to climb up onto Appa.

"112. Long story," said Sokka. "But he's got the mind of a 12-year-old."

I thought I'd been through a lot? Aang surely has been through a lot more.

I looked at Sokka and he looked at me. We locked eyes for a moment, but then I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks and I turned away, clearing my throat.

"So, we need meat," I said abruptly.

"Yes, meat sounds good," he replied, clearing his throat.

At least we were getting along okay now.

"Sokka? Aya? Are you guys ready?" Katara called down to us.

"Coming!" yelled Sokka and me simultaneously.


	6. Chapter 6

When we were up in the air, it was beginning to grow dark. I needed something to eat, as I hadn't eaten in about a day, and we've been traveling for a long time. Yawning, I stretched, looking at Katara.

"Are we going to be able to get something to eat soon?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"Yeah, I need food, as well," she replied, smiling.

"Meat," Sokka said simply.

Katara laughed and I smiled slightly, taking out the little pebble from my pocket again. I sighed, already missing home too much to really care about anything else but eating, sleeping, and missing home.

"Are you okay, Aya?" asked Katara, concern lacing her voice.

I looked away from all of them, curling up and leaning against Appa's saddle.

The reality of my home being gone was hitting me hard at last, and I still couldn't believe that I had let the town burn. My mother and little brother were probably long gone, just memories of the past. I had a new future now. I had to help Aang in any way possible.

I wiped away a stray tear and sat back up, leaning back to look up at the sky. I bit my lip to keep my tears in, and I felt a hand on my shoulder. At first I didn't know who it was, but I looked back and realized it was Sokka. I looked at him, surprised, but he just shook his head and sat back.

I didn't know how to respond to that, but I could feel the tears burning behind my eyelids.

"I think I'm going to try and sleep," I told them, my voice cracking a little. "Tell me when we're near food."

They nodded, and I fell asleep almost instantly.

It felt as though something were pulling me down into the depths of fatigue though. I didn't know what it was.

I figured I'd find out soon enough.

* * *

I awoke in a meadow, an unfamiliar one at that. It seemed as though I were alone, but then I heard the shouts somewhere to my right.

I ran that direction, but I couldn't seem to pinpoint the location of the racket. The vibrations were moving around too quickly, and the sounds seemed to be coming from everywhere. I just kept running right, figuring that it would be a type of trick. At last, I came upon a battlefield.

I saw myself fighting alongside Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and Aang, explosions of lightning and fire, as well as the other elements, booming up around us. That when I realized the faint blue glow surrounding me.

Was it possible I was in the spirit world? That couldn't be right. Visions do not happen in the spirit world, did they?

I shook my head, focusing on the battle ahead of me.

It looked like we were fighting Firelord Ozai and his daughter Azula. I couldn't be sure though; I'd never seen them in person.

"Aya! Fall back!" commanded Sokka, and I charged forward.

I charged forward right into the lightning-laced palm of the Firelord.

Then I woke up.

* * *

I sat up, a scream emitting from my mouth. Everyone jumped abruptly, and I was breathing heavily. I was shaking my head, burying my face into my hands.

"I- No..." I whimpered. "It c-can't..."

"Aya?" Katara asked gently.

"The dreams..." I whispered. "I c-can't" – I paused for a moment – "I can't take them anymore!"

I stood up suddenly and looked at all of them. They were staring at me, wondering what was going on.

"I'm... I'm sorry," I said, sitting back down. "Let me fill you in."

"Yeah that would be nice, since we're kind of freaked out why you did that, to be honest," replied Sokka.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, the visions of my village burning and the Firelord's hand coming towards me like a speeding airship.

"Just so you guys know, this is personal to me, and I haven't told anyone," I said.

"Alright," said Katara, nodding.

"Yeah. Even though I don't like you all that much, we're a team, and teams count on each other," Sokka said fervently.

I smiled a little at Sokka, taking another large inhale.

"When I was 12, that's when I got the first dream," I started. "I saw a village burning, and then my family's faces behind the burning town. I realize that the burning village was mine."

I took a moment to recompose myself.

"When you first found me, it was the day after my village had been burned to the ground," I continued, looking down at my hands the entire time.

"Yeah, we saw a little bit of smoke, so we decided to check it out," Sokka commented. "When we got there, though, there was nothing."

I bit my lip, still looking at my hands, which were starting to shake a little.

"Well, my dream came true," I told them. "Every last detail was true, except for the part of me watching my village burn down. I heard everything. Like the dream, near the end of the fire, there was a man screaming, and children crying."

They looked at me bewildered.

"I had nothing left, not even family," I explained. "So when you came along, that's why I decided to join you guys. I had nowhere else to go."

I paused, biting my lip and looking up towards the sky.

"I just had another dream," I told them. "It was like I was watching everything outside of my own body. Anyways, we were fighting the Firelord and Azula. Zuko was fighting alongside us. You" – I broke off, pointing to Sokka – "told me to fall back, and then I woke up when the Firelord's hand, lit with lightning, was coming towards my face."

There was silence for a few moments.

"I have no idea if this will come true or not, but... If it does, then Zuko was right," I told them.

"Zuko wasn't lying," muttered Aang. "I could tell."

We all looked at him.

"His voice was steady, and he actually sounded concerned for us," he continued.

"And... When he talked to Katara, he seemed quite protective of her," I piped in.

Katara's mouth dropped open.

"He was not-" she exclaimed.

"He was," I countered. "And he seemed worried about us too."

Sokka was stroking an imaginary beard.

"He wasn't lying," I explained. "Because I could feel the vibrations of his heart through my hand, and his heart was steady."

They looked at me.

"How did you...?" Sokka started, trailing off.

"Anyone can if you just try hard enough."

Sokka stared at me.

"Whatever you say, Ay," he said.

"Oh gosh, I have a nickname," I said, head falling back.

We all laughed.

"Anyways, back to the point," Katara started. "Was Zuko lying or not?"

"No, he wasn't," I told her. "But he did seem to clam up around you."

Katara blushed, looking around and then hiding her face.

"He doesn't like me!" she exclaimed.

"I would beg to differ, but alright," I told her, shrugging.

"Anyways," Sokka drawled. "Your dreams. Are you saying you're some kind of...future teller or prophet or something?"

"I don't know," I told him. "It's only happened once, and so if it happens again..."

I realized what that meant.

"I would die, probably."

There was silence.


	7. Chapter 7

I was getting tired of the silence when we were landing in a small Earth Kingdom town, and I was about ready to explode.

"Are you sure about you dying, Aya?" asked Sokka.

"No, that's why I added the 'probably,'" I told them. "I don't know what happens to me, but his hand was coming towards me, lit with lightning."

Katara sighed, Sokka pressed his lips together in a distressed manner, and I swallowed nervously.

"If the time comes, we'll protect you, Aya," Aang told me, a harsh line spreading over his forehead in the form of determination.

"Thank you, Aang," I told him, smiling slightly.

He nodded once.

"Anyways, there should be food here," he said, looking around.

"Meat!" Sokka and I both shouted at the same time.

Looking at each other, we scooted away from one another, looking away slowly.

"We'll get some meat, guys. Don't you worry," Katara said to us.

"Good," we said simultaneously again. "Stop copying me. Stop copying me!"

Katara and Aang laughed, and after a while, Sokka and I started to laugh as well.

"Well, that was interesting," I said, wiping a tear from my cheek from all of the laughing.

"Quite," replied Sokka, who looked at me and smiled a little bit. "You know, you're not so bad, Aya."

"Good," I told him. "I think we would've drove Katara and Aang a bit crazy if we always bickered."

He smiled at me and I smiled back, but only briefly.

"Alright, we're here," said Aang, and we all hopped out of the saddle.

"I smell yummy meat...this way," said Sokka.

I felt the vibrations of sizzling meat through my hand, and noticed he was going the wrong way.

"Uh, Wise Guy, the meat is this way," I told him, grinning innocently.

He grumbled as he walked past me the way I pointed.

"Sokka," I said.

"What?" he mumbled.

"You're getting meat. Perk up a bit."

He still grumbled.

"I take back what I said to you."

"Alright."

"You know I'm joking, right?"

"Yeah, otherwise I would've freaked out way more than I did."

"Oh. Well..."

I grinned at him, and realized we lost Katara and Aang.

"Where'd they go?"

"Where'd who go?"

"Your sister and the freaking Avatar, Wise Guy."

"Oh, yeah, they tend to wander off to find their own things."

"Ahh, well, then I guess it isn't a problem?"

"Yeah. I mean, we may not be all that friendly, but... we're going to the same destination."

"Of course."

Continuing to walk to the meat shop, we finally ordered a few sautéed beef sandwiches and a couple of waters. Sitting down at a small table, we sat there for a few minutes, just chewing a little bit, and then we decided it would be a good idea to at least talk a little.

"So, uh," I started.

"Um, yeah," he replied. "Good sandwich."

"Yup," I told him. "Very meaty."

"Just the way I like it," he said, taking another bite of his sandwich and then grinning at me.

"Ew, you're gross," I told him, bending some dust in the direction of his cheek.

"I'm gross?" he asked me. "You haven't seen anything yet."

He smiled with an evil glint in his eye and...

There was an explosion a few buildings down.

I turned around, leaping up in my chair, sandwich still in hand. I stuffed the whole thing into my mouth, chewed furiously, and swallowed. Sokka did the same.

"C'mon," I said, waving for him to follow me.

He was running behind me, and I got a little closer to the building to see what had happened.

"What the..." Sokka said, and I turned to look at him.

"What is that thing?" I asked, forcing myself to watch this...machine.

It was spewing bombs everywhere, and I didn't even know that machines could be built to move this fluently. It almost moved like a human would. Maybe it wasn't a machine. Maybe...

I bended the earth underneath it, wedged a few rocks in between the middle of the metal contraption, and peeled it open. Inside was some sort of spirit and I gasped when it turned towards me.

"Aya," said Sokka, laying a hand on my arm. "We should run."

"Already thought of that."

We turned around and ran, meeting Katara and Aang again.

"What happened?" demanded Aang.

"We'll tell you in the... in the Appa?" I told them, thinking about what I was saying. "I mean the saddle..."

They stared at me like I was crazy, and then we ran again, the spirit-like thing on our heels.

Then I realized there were two more of them.

"What are these things and what do they want?" shouted Sokka, above all of the chaos.

It was almost like I could hear them whisper a name.

_Aya... Aya..._

"They want me," I told them.

"Well, too bad, they can't have you," said Aang.

"But that means you'd all be in danger with me around," I said, stopping for breath.

"Psh, we're always in danger," said Sokka. "Now run, woman!"

I rolled my eyes and started to run again.

Thankfully, the spirits had stopped, and we got back to Appa safely.

"Okay, now," started Katara. "What were those things?"

"I have no clue," said Aang. "And I'm the spiritual one."

"Yeah, that's definitely kind of strange," said Sokka.

"Why would they want me?" I asked them, a bit breathless from running.

"I don't know, Aya," said Sokka. "But you're safe. That's what matters."

I looked at Sokka, a bit surprised.

"Don't look at me like that," he said, smiling a little bit.

"Okay..." I replied, shaking my head. "We need to figure out what those things were."

"Yeah, that would probably be a good idea," said Aang. "They might be something the Firelord summoned to get rid of my 'cronies.'"

"I don't know, Aang," I told him. "I really don't."

I sighed, looking out into the distance, the wind making my hair billow up around me. I could feel someone's eyes on me, and discovered that Sokka was looking at me.

"What?" I asked him.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," he said, pressing his lips together and looking away.

However, a moment later, he looked again, saw my eyebrow quirked, and faced away from me.

"Boys are weird," I muttered under my breath so only Katara could hear. We laughed for a moment, Aang and Sokka looking at each other, and then I leaned back to ponder over what those spirits were.


	8. Chapter 8

I didn't realize that I fell asleep, and I awoke to the morning sun coming over the horizon. At that moment, I felt something shift against my head, and then I sat up to find that I was leaning against Sokka, and he was awake too. We then jumped to opposite sides of the saddle, not making eye contact for a few minutes.

"Good morning," said Katara, wiping her eyes and yawning.

"Morning," said Sokka and I simultaneously once again.

"Sleep well?" she asked, eyeing us both.

"Mhm," we both replied, not at the same time.

"Okay then," she said, turning to her sack.

I looked beneath us and noticed something rustling. It was probably Prince Zuko following us again, but I realized that Prince Zuko did not glow. The spirits were following us.

"Guys, look," I said, pointing to the ground. "The spirits are following us."

There had to be at least five, and their metal bodies were moving fluidly just like a human would.

"I wonder if they're being forced to do this," said Aang.

"I don't know," I replied. "All I know is that they want me."

"Still not going to happen, Aya," said Sokka. "Not while I'm- I mean, we're around."

I blinked at him.

"Doesn't mean they won't try to stop us," I said.

"We don't care," said Katara. "You're a part of our team – our family – now."

I smiled at her and Sokka.

"You know," I started. "I didn't know what I was getting into when I joined your team."

I looked at Sokka and smiled a little.

"Didn't know that I'd bicker with someone who's exactly like me," I joked.

"We- we're not exactly the same!"

I nodded, leaning back and crossing my arms.

"Uh huh. Name four things that are different."

"That'll be easy. First, you're a girl. Second, you're an earthbender. Third... Third..."

I smirked at him.

"You win this time," he muttered.

"I win all the time."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, yes I do."

"No."

"Mhm."

"Nuh uh!"

"Okay, really guys, are you going to bicker while there are evil, demonic spirits following us?" asked Aang.

"Guess not," I said.

"He takes all the fun out of everything," said Sokka, shrugging.

"Tell me about it."

"I can hear you!" cried Aang.

"Sorry," Sokka and I muttered.

Huh. Maybe this guy wasn't all that bad after all. After all, the way the sunlight hit his eyes...

No, Aya. Keep yourself together.

I looked away from him, at the blue spirits again.

"I've heard stories about the Blue Spirit, but isn't he supposed to keep peace, sort of like the Avatar?" I asked Aang, turning towards him.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," he said. "I haven't really researched it, though."

"Their faces are different," said Katara. "They are more aggressive looking than the Blue Spirit."

"Well, let's just say we have no clue what they are and no idea why they want Aya," reasoned Sokka.

I nodded, having to agree.

"They are definitely strange," I said, scratching my chin. "But we know nothing of them or where they got their metal bodies from."

"Maybe there'll be one we can talk to or something?" suggested Katara.

"Oh, yeah," said Sokka. "There will definitely be one who'll extend an olive branch and tell us what's going on."

"I was just trying to suggest something, Sokka," said Katara.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he said. "But you know who I am: sarcasm and meat."

"Yeah, yeah," she said, turning away from him.

He shrugged, looking at me.

"Are you sure you've never seen those before?"

I nodded.

"I'm sure."

"Huh. That's really strange."

"I'd have to agree."

We looked at each other for another moment before turning to watch the spirits follow us.

"I wonder why they want me," I said.

"There could be several reasons," said Aang. "Maybe it's because you're associated with me, or maybe it's because you broke one of their metal skins open. I'm not entirely positive."

"Who is?" I said, shrugging. "Let's just try to make them lose our trail..."  
"Yeah, that might be our best bet right now," said Katara.

Even Sokka was nodding.

"Yeah, but if we find out any weak points, we'll have to try to fight them, alright?"

"That would be best, I suppose," said Aang.

"Alright, let's get out of here," said Sokka.

Aang steered Appa away from the spirits. We lost them, for now.

I awoke to stars lighting up the night sky. Perhaps I had drifted off, and this time I didn't have any dreams. I was relieved that I had a silent sleep last night. However, once I realized that I was, in fact, awake, I jumped to a sitting position.

"A little jumpy, now are we?" asked a voice to my right.

It was Sokka.

"I just...drifted off," I said, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear and looking away.

"Yeah for like...two hours."

"Only two?"

"Yeah, two."

"Huh. No wonder I didn't have any 'prophetic dreams,'" I told him.

He smirked a little at my comment.

"So what are you doing up, Meat Boy?"

He lifted an eyebrow at me.

"I couldn't sleep. Is that not obvious?"

"Sokka, I was just wondering."

"Sorry. I get snappy when I am given a nickname and when I'm tired."

"Not a good combination, Wise Guy."

"I have to agree on that one."

I moved to a sitting position, leaning back against the saddle's ledge. I tucked my knees in and wrapped my arms around my legs, pressing my chin down on my knees.

"Aya?"

I looked at Sokka.

"Yeah?"

"Is that story about your village burning down true?"

I nodded and he stared at me for a moment.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

"Thanks," I replied, looking away from him.

"No, really," he continued. "I'm really sorry. I couldn't even imagine..."

I looked at him again, shaking my head.

"It's okay, and I appreciate the apology," I told him. "But it's alright, really. It happened two days ago. My mother and Kaito are gone. I probably won't ever see them again. But it happened. I can't change it."

I bite my lip, squeezing my eyes shut and starting to rock back and forth.

"Hey, hey," said Sokka, his voice the softest I've ever heard it. "It's okay."

"But it's not," I said, voice cracking. "They're gone."

"But they'll always be there," he said, scooting a little closer to me.

I looked at him, a tear falling down my cheek.

"How?" I said, voice strained from the tears that were threatening to spill.

I watched as he moved his hand to press a finger to my chest, and then looked into his eyes.

"Right there," he said, looking straight into my eyes too.

With those words, I moved his arm to the side and launched myself into his arms, just needing to let the built-up tears out of my system. His arms immediately wrapped around me and I clung to him, sobbing every here and there. His hand reached up to stroke my hair a little, just to soothe me.

"I lost my mom when I was young," he told me. "It hurt me, but Katara was a mess. Our mom was a role model to both of us, and now our dad's gone too. He's a prisoner of war, I think, and I haven't found him yet. I will find him though. I will. And if there's a chance that your family is alive, we'll find them too."

I pulled away from him and smiled.

"Thanks, Sokka," I told him, turning away to wipe my last few tears away and try to calm down my puffiness.

"No problem," he said, patting my back a little. "But I never thought in a million years that I would ever see you, the strong and mighty Aya, cry."

I laughed a little.

The sun was officially coming up, and Katara and Aang began to stir.

"Good morning, you guys," said Katara.

"Morning," said Sokka and I, back in our usual places on the saddle, a new bond held between us.


	9. Chapter 9

While we travelled, I marveled over the sights I was seeing. I had never been out of my village, so it was strange to see unusual forests and areas that were different from where I lived. It made me feel like an adventurer, and I liked that aspect of it, but being away from home and my family was hard. I had to keep reminding myself that there was no home to go back to, and no family to see to my return. I sighed, leaning over the saddle's edge a little to reach the clouds.

That's when I noticed a faint blue-green glow illuminating them, but it was too late. Something grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go.

I yelled, and it pulled me over the edge.

"Help me!" I screamed, trying to keep hold with my foot.

_Aya... Aya..._

Their grip tightened on my wrists, and I was doing all I could not to slip from the saddle, but it was a fruitless effort now.

Then I felt someone grab onto my ankles, and that's when I figured everything would be alright.

"C'mon," I heard Katara and Sokka grunt, and they pulled me back to safety. I willed some earth from Appa's feet to throw a few pebbles and distract the spirits, which helped a little.

"Aya, could you help a little bit more?" Katara murmured.

I wrestled my wrists from their grasp and fell backwards onto the saddle. Or, what I thought was the saddle.

"Oof!" grunted Sokka. "You're heavier than you look."

"Thanks," I said, sitting up and rolling off him.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"I'm fi- Ouch!" I yelled as I touched one of wrists. There was a thin sheen of blood covering it.

"Let me see," said Katara. She moved her hands over my wrist, and the cool water didn't feel soothing this time. It stung.

"Ow," I said. "Oh, gosh ow."

"Does it hurt?" asked Sokka, looking at me, concerned.

I nodded.

"Here," he said, taking my hand.

I blinked at him and he rolled his eyes.

"Just squeeze it if you need to," he said.

Katara moved her hands over my wrist again, and I bit my lip, squeezing Sokka's hand hard. He yelped a little bit, but then he looked straight at me, a serious look on his face.

"There," said Katara. "Does it feel any better?"

I nodded, moving to let go of Sokka's hand.

He didn't.

"Oh, sorry," he said, moving his hand around a little. "You have a strong grip."

"Well, when you have to crush rocks, it's kind of inevitable," I said, shrugging.

"Yeah," he said, laughing a little afterwards.

"Is Aya alright?" asked Aang from the driver's seat. "I tried steering Appa away but he was petrified."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I told him.

"Good," he said.

I looked straight ahead.

"Can we land? I need to earthbend or something," I told them.

Aang nodded, descending slowly.

* * *

When we landed, I hopped out, stumbled a little from the whole ordeal, but Sokka caught me.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded.

"Just... off balance, that's all."

He nodded, but seemed like he still needed to watch me closely.

"Okay, I'll be over here."

"Alright."

I moved to a bare area in the forest we just landed in, and took my bending stance. I shot my arm up, and a tower of earth produced itself from the ground.

"What a perfect signal, Aya," said an unfamiliar voice.

I turned around and saw Zuko.

"Are you alright?" he asked me, dismounting from his reptilian creature. "I saw the commotion."

I nodded.

"Yeah, thanks," I said. "What are those things though? We saw some blue land spirits as well. They keep whispering my name."

"That's what I don't get," he said, scratching his chin a little. "I don't know why they want you. They just...do. I don't know who summoned or called for them, but whoever it was is in dire need for you."

"Hey, what's he doing here?" shouted Katara once she saw him.

I could feel his heartbeat quicken a little bit.

"Katara," he said, bowing his head a little bit.

"Don't 'Katara' me, you firehead," she told him, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Oh, ouch," he said, putting a hand to his heart. "That bruised my ego."

"Good," she said, getting up into his face.

"You really seem to like being up in my face, Katara," he said. "A lot."

"But I- Ugh!" she said, taking a step back.

He took a step forward.

Katara took a step to the side, and Zuko did the same.

Whenever Katara took a step, Zuko followed her.

"You know," he said after a while. "We would make a pretty good team. We're so in sync."

I put my hand to my mouth, giggling a little bit, while Sokka, standing beside me, just stood there with his mouth open. Aang was turned away, clearly practicing some airbending and waterbending. I wonder what that's about.

"Shove it," said Katara, turning away from him.

Coming up behind her, Zuko reached his hand around her and pulled her chin towards him. Katara pulled water out of her satchel and aimed it at his face.

Then everything went into slow motion.

She moved her hand with the water to hit Zuko's cheek, hard, but she didn't get very far before Zuko's lips brushed hers.

She froze, water splashing them harmlessly, Zuko jumping away from her.

He smirked at her, turning to walk away.

"Whoa, Zuko," I said as he passed me. "You really like her, don't you?"

He turned back to look at Katara before mounting his steed.

"Yeah, I really do."

Katara blushed, and he turned back to enter the woods.

Sokka was still just standing there, his mouth still open.

"Sokka?" I said, waving my hand in front of his face. "Hello?"

He looked at me, and blinked a few times.

"Okay, please tell me that Zuko did NOT just kiss my little sister!" he cried.

I shrugged.

"Sorry, I can't," I said.

He shuddered, and I laughed.

"It's okay, he really meant it," I told him.

"But ZUKO!" he said.

He looked at me.

"Do you like anyone?" he asked. "Sorry, I need a distraction."

I shook my head, but then shrugged.

"I don't know…" I said. "How about you?"

He shrugged.

"Maybe," he said. "I don't know if it will pass."

I wiggled my eyebrows.

"Who is it?" I said, poking him.

"No one," he said, looking at me.

"Who? Who who who?" I said, grinning and poking him a little bit more.

"You don't want to know, trust me," he said, trying to evade my poking.

"C'mon!" I cried. "Tell me!"

"No!" he said, running away from me.

"Pleeeeease!" I said, running after him.

"Noooo!" he still ran away.

I stopped and earthbended the earth around him, making him come towards me.

When he stopped in front of me, I grabbed the front of his shirt to hold him there.

"Who?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

He sighed, looking away from me.

"You, I like you," he told me.

I let go of his shirt.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Sorry for not updating sooner guys! I've had a supremely busy summer and I finally got some motivation to finish this chapter. I hope you like it!**

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Sokka liked me. I couldn't really believe it all that much.

That night, I lay in my earth tent, curled up and trying to sleep. Sadly, the ribbons of fatigue weren't strong enough to pull me down into a restful sleep. I was thinking about what had happened with Sokka earlier. It baffled me, really. A few days ago, he had wanted to kill me. Now he wanted to kiss me? I sighed, turning over so I was facing the other side of my tent.

I heard a knock on my tent door, wondering who it could be so late that night.

"Aya?" whispered a voice. It sounded like Sokka.

"What?" I asked him, my voice raw.

"Can I come in?"

"Fine, sure, I guess."

I lowered the door for him a little bit, just enough to let him in, and when I was sure he had stepped into my tent, I closed it up completely again.

"It's, uh, it's dark in here," he said to me.

"I like the dark..." I replied.

He sighed a little, and I could feel his heart beating rapidly.

"So," I said. "I've been thinking..."

"Good, so have I."

"You have?"

Sokka nodded.

"Well, okay," I answered. "You go ahead then."

"I'm sorry I shocked you, really," he told me. "I didn't think you wanted to know that badly, and then you kept asking me and begging to know... I decided I trusted you enough to let you know...that."

I nodded.

"I'm sorry, but I don't regret it," he continued.

He was looking away from me right now, and I was looking at the ground.

"I know, we've only known each other for a week," he said to me. "And I also know that I almost killed you..."

"No, you didn't," I interrupted. "I could've easily gotten away."

"Right," he said, then pausing. Clearly, he had this whole thing mapped out.

"Well..." he started again, clearing his throat. I smirked a little.

"Well...?"

I prodded him with my elbow a little, saying that he could continue.

"I don't know what else to say," he told me, shrugging. "I don't regret it, because I like you. But I'm sorry that I shocked you. I mean I would be shocked too if someone liked me and then told me. I couldn't keep it in, though. It just wasn't possible for me to do..."

He went on and on, and I tried to interrupt him a few times.

"...You're pretty, amazing, witty, and you like meat. You're like the perfect girl for me..."

"Sokka—"

"And you're good at interrupting which is a good thing..."

"Sok-"

"And I just like you, okay?"

"S-"

"So yeah, that's all I wanted to tell you."

I looked at him, smiling softly.

"You really think all that, huh?"

"Yeah, but I do some pretty stupid things sometimes. Telling you when you're in such a fragile place was wrong, and I'm sorry."

I smirked at him, shaking my head.

"It's fine."

I swallowed a little bit, nervous sweat coating my forehead all of the sudden. I was immediately aware of my movements, and I almost wanted to impress him with every little thing I did. I bit my lip, waiting for the feeling to pass, but it didn't. This wasn't good, at all.

"Well, if that's all..." I told him, looking at him.

"Yes, well," he said. "I'll see you in the morning."

"You, too," I told him.

"Sleep well, Aya," he replied, smiling at me.

I lowered the door for him and almost hesitated to close it again. I didn't want him to leave, really, but I had to control myself.

I watched him leave and then closed my tent door. What was this feeling? Did I like Sokka back, or was it just because of everything that happened? I sighed, curling up underneath my earth tent.

I had to figure out what this feeling for Sokka was. With all of the other things going on right now, it was kind of hard to have some me time to mull it all over and find out why I partially liked Sokka. I knew I liked him at least a little bit, but why? Just because he liked me? He was mean to me, well, up until recently. I slowly laid back on the cold, hard ground, appreciating the firmness of the rock.

Finally, I drifted off to sleep.

"Aya!" exclaimed a voice.

I opened my heavy eyes and looked around. Surely it wasn't morning already? I bended my tent away and was met by bright sunlight.

"Okay, good, you're awake," said a voice to my right. It was Zuko.

"Barely," I said, looking around. Where was everyone? All of their stuff was still there, and Appa and Momo were sleeping peacefully underneath the trees. I looked around in confusion.

"Where is everyone?" I asked Zuko, looking up at him. He shrugged.

"I have no idea. I was hoping you knew."

I bit my lip and shook my head. Getting up, I looked around. It looked like they had left recently. I walked carefully to not disrupt Appa, and looked at Zuko, motioning him to follow me. He nodded, walking behind me carefully.

I had to look for evidence of a struggle. I didn't see anything spilled over or anything like that, and I saw steady footprints leading towards the forest.

"They're gone, and they look like they'd gone willingly," I told Zuko. Something didn't seem right, though.

Suddenly, it all dawned on me. The spirits that were following me... They were trying to get to me by taking my friends away from me.

"The spirits," I told Zuko simply, and he understood. He stood a little taller, trying to look determined.

"We'll find them, Aya," he told me.

I nodded.

"I know," I said, fiercely.

If I'm the one that the spirits wanted, then that's what they'll get.


End file.
